Stormwater's 'good housekeeping' seal of approval

As Beaufort County has grown into a more urbanized area, the local governments will soon be subject to a new level of federal regulation administered by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. Bluffton will have to obtain a permit for its stormwater systems under a program known as MS4: Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems.

The MS4 program is designed to help prevent pollution in area waterways. There are six measures a municipality must address to meet the MS4 standards: Public education and outreach, public involvement, illicit discharge detection and elimination, construction site runoff control, post-construction runoff control, and good housekeeping. Through the May River Watershed Action Plan, we have already started to develop and implement programs that incorporate these six measures prior to any required federal regulations.

In future articles and at Town Council meetings, we will keep you posted on these key measures, especially those opportunities for public involvement. We are lucky to have so many citizens who are involved in our current initiatives to protect the May River, including service on our various boards and committees. Town staff members play a big role as well and these folks are working hard to improve our processes, such as those envisioned in the good housekeeping measure.

According to the rules, “good housekeeping” includes the reduction of pollutants that collect on streets, parking lots, open spaces, and storage and vehicle maintenance areas, and then discharged into local waterways. Our public works division has unveiled two tools in the fight to prevent pollution using these practices.

The first is the new equipment wash rack system designed to prevent wash water from leaving the storage and vehicle maintenance area at its facility. This equipment wash rack removes dirt from our equipment using a closed loop system that recycles wash water instead of discharging it into area waterways. Potential pollutants are filtered out of the water through a mechanical system and then collected in a medium that will be disposed of per approved U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards.

While this wash rack operates to protect the environment behind the scenes, the second tool used by public works will be out in the public eye every week.

The town just took delivery of its first street sweeper — a Tymco 210 Regenerative System Sweeper. Like the wash rack, the street sweeper uses a closed loop system that keeps dust, debris and pollutants from being released into the air and contaminating the atmosphere. The sweeper has a retractable brush that helps pull dirt from the roadways and curbs into a vacuum that sucks these materials inside the unit for proper disposal. At the end of the work day, our public works team will have prevented debris from entering our river, even while it maintains the beauty of our beloved town.

If you ever have questions about our wonderful town, don’t hesitate to contact Town Hall at 706-4500 or email Lisa Sulka at lsulka@townofbluffton.com.